Sometimes it’s things that seem incidental that have a huge impact on the rest of your life. Participating in a school production of the musical Käpt’n Bay Bay (penned by Norbert Schulze, the composer of Lili Marleen) was – in hindsight – the catalyst that launched Jens Larsen on his path to the opera stage. But it took some time before before Larsen realised this himself. Being the son of a salesman, he first of all studied something solid: law! »I actually really enjoyed it«, he confesses. But eventually, my decision to study singing became clear.

His entrance exam for the music school in his home town of Hamburg was an instant success. After a few years, he switched to the music school in Cologne, where he was taught by no less than the famous bass singer Kurt Moll, »an amazing singer and person in every respect, from whom I learnt an incredible amount – and not just about singing.« His first engagements took him to the Staatstheater Darmstadt, and 16 months later, to Theater Basel. A few years later, the new production of Der Rosenkavalier in Basel introduced him to Andreas Homoki, who brought him over to the Komische Oper Berlin. »It was time to leave Basel. It just fit well.«

In his free time, Jens Larsen openly admits that he often likes to lie around in bed and watch TV! That or playing with the three family cats, which have the beautiful names of Lily, Molly and Ginny. »Originally they were called Harry, Ron and Neville«, Larsen says with a laugh. »But then we discovered they were females, and we had to quickly rename them! All the names come from Harry Potter.«

He is proud that he has a good relationship with both his children from his first marriage, who are now studying in Dessau and Amsterdam. They think it’s cool that Dad is up there on the stage.